Life Sentence
by Niece of the Prophet Zarquon
Summary: Freakshow escapes from prison and tries to steal Danny's life. Will his friends be able to save our hero?
1. Green Ghosts and Pink Paint

I do not own Danny Phantom, I also do not own most of the ideas in this story. I think that a lot of writing is "borrowing" other peoples ideas and presenting them in a new and interesting way. If you can guess where I took the ideas let me know and I'll say if your right or wrong but I want to say now that I have not consciously used anything from a writer on this site.

Oh and this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story and it's dedicated to everyone on my favourite author list, Ellen Brand, Enray, Raina Wolfe - Lateraina, Silent Elegy and wafische. Thanks for inspiring me.

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_Cue spooky music._

"You're trespassing on government property ghost!" was heard over the sound of anti-ectoplasm weapons at the Amity Park Penitentiary.

Inside the laboratory that absolutely did not exist within the prison the Guys in White, top-secret government agents willing to go to any lengths to protect American citizens from the threat of ghost (as long as it didn't go over the department's budget for overtime) were fighting a valiant retreat against a hoard of ghostly green animals, dragons, floating burning skulls and somethings even weirder.

"Under Section 4 of the Standard Rules of Engagement we are authorised to use all necessary force to remove said invaders," said Agent Johnson as he blasted a bat, with an ectobazooka nearly as big as he was.

"Time to engage the Ecto-Oblitorator?" suggested his partner Agent Johnson (no relation) who was carrying a similarly massive weapon.

"Time to engage the Ecto-Oblitorator."

His partner hit a button on the console he had been backing into and out popped a small white gum that had a barrel barely the length of his pinkie. With a smooth flick of his wrist Agent Johnson armed the gun and aimed at the ghostly assailants.

" Prepare to be evicted from these premises ghosts!" As he was about to fire the ghosts fled en-mass form the lab.

"Well," said Agent Johnson as he surveyed the now empty but sadly trashed room. "That was easy."

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However Agent Johnson spoke too soon, for at that moment the ghostly animals were returning to their mistress, Lydia the Tattooed Ghost. They had completed the task she required, distracting the Guys in White so she could effect at prison break, and now returned to their normal positions as inanimate tattoos on her body. She flew with her human paramour, convicted felon and former ringmaster of the Circus Gothica, Frederich Isak Showenhower, better known by his stage name Freakshow.

"Aha! My dear thank you for freeing me. It gets very dull behind the iron bars. Let's try to make sure they don't be a nuisance again," suggested Freakshow. "And at the same time let's take revenge on that troublesome child Danny Phantom!"

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The next morning Danny Fenton and his two best friends Sam Manson and Tucker Foley arrived at Casper High discussing the latest video game at G.E.E.K. the local arcade and Internet shop.

"Come on Danny, this game is supposed to be great!" said Tucker. "it got rated four skulls in the Gruesome Gore Games magazine!"

"I guess it would be fun to shoot zombies instead fighting ghosts tonight," said Danny rubbing the back of neck.

"OK let's meet up at G.E.E.K. this evening," Sam said. "Look I got to get to my locker. I'll see you boys later."

As the violet eyed goth walked towards her locker she heard giggling.

"Hey goth-freak do you ever wear anything that's not black?" This was from Paulina, the pretty popular latin girl who had all of the boys in the school, including Danny and Tucker trailing after her and picked on any girl that, like Sam, wouldn't follow her lead. She was standing against the wall with her blond confederate Star. Both girls were dressed in pink.

"Way too much free time you girls," murmured Sam as she opened her locker. She gasped a thick gooey liquid squirted out of her locker over her face and chest. Gooey _pink_ liquid paint. She was covered in pink paint!

"Oh I didn't mean you should change right now!" tittered Paulina as Sam fumed. "Make-up and clothes!"

"Okay Paulina," muttered Sam, wiping the paint off her face. "You may have started this but I will have my revenge!"

_Cue theme song._

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Great first chapter down. Thanks for reading this far anyway. If you want to criticize don't be afraid to be harsh, my ego can take it.


	2. Shooting zombies and Wrestling Grizzlies

Thanks to Akemi Clevek for reviewing, and to my sweetie who described chapter one as 'lacking in atmosphere.' Thanks to him I rewrote the chapter trying to make it clearer especially to those who aren't familiar with Freakshow and Lydia.

Did you know that Freakshow is not included in the list of characters when posting a story? Anyone know how to change that?

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That evening the three friends were locked in vicious mortal combat against fearsome fiends from beyond the vale.

Things were not going well for Sam, she had been cut off from Danny and Tucker and was trying to climb a fire-escape while simultaneously keeping her attackers at a distance.

"Hang on Sam! I'm coming!" called Danny frantically blasting zombies.

"Die you perky, pink, popular princess!" Sam shot desperately but in her haste too many of her shots had gone wide of their mark and now Sam was out of ammo. She tried to reload but one of the undead grabbed her leg. She was dragged off the fire-escape and into the mass of mauling grasping hands below. Danny had been to late and Sam was dead.

Game over.

Danny and Tucker paused the game and came over to their friend.

"Hey… Sam is everything okay/" asked Danny carefully.

"Yeah," agreed Tucker, trying to hide his glee and failing. "Usually you beat us hollow at these games."

Sam glowered at her friends. She hadn't told them what had happened this morning. Since the three friends had started fighting ghosts they had made a point of stashing changes of clothes in their lockers and each others houses as they tended get trashed so often, she had managed to get cleaned up before too many people had seen her.

"No, I'm good," she relented. "I think I've had too many late nights this week. I'm going to go home early."

"Um… okay," answered Danny. "Shall I…. WR walk you home."

"Don't be silly, it's three minutes. You stay and kick Tuckers butt for me."

" Ha! You wish!" laughed Tucker. "Last one to a kill count of five hundred buys the other a Triple Meaty Nasty Meal."

Sam left the two boys to their friendly rivalry. She had to find someway of getting back at Paulina, something that would be really bad.

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Much later Danny and Tucker were unceremoniously kicked out of G.E.E.K. by a desperate staff member who had finally threatened to ban them for life.

"Okay, so you owe me three Triple Meaty Nasty Meals WITH milkshakes and a gooseberry pie dessert, and I owe you…"

"Fries and a coke," replied Danny glumly. "Go you think Sam is okay? She seemed pretty tense since this morning."

" I don't know, we can find out tomorrow when you buy me my nasty meals!"

"oh gross you're not going to eat those all at once, are… oh no!" The puff of icy breath that indicated the presence of a ghost interrupted the friendly banter and put Danny on alert, checking the rooftops and sky for whatever he had sensed.

"Trouble?" asked Tucker. "Well whatever it is we can handle it!"

"Best not take any chances," answered Danny cheerfully. "I'm Going Ghost!"

As he shouted his famous battle cry two blue rings appeared around Danny transforming him into the notorious ghost battling teen superhero Danny Phantom.

As soon as he transformed a ghostly bear stepped out of an alleyway. The two bows took an involuntary step back as they saw his teeth.

Danny recovered quickly and floated a few feet into the air moving away from Tucker and drawing the bears attention.

"Hey Yogi! Don't you have a picnic basket to steal?" he shouted, sending two quick ectoblasts at the bear.

The bear roared rattling the windows of the nearby shops and took off after Danny. Tucker followed as fast a he could pulling the Fenton Thermos from his backpack.

Their plan was tried and tested for these night-time fights. Encourage the ghost to chase Danny to one of the many industrial yards and carparks that ringed the town and were likely to be empty at this time of night, while his friends followed with the Thermos and other weapons to provide back-up. This not only reduced the risk to innocent bystanders but also cut down on property damage. It helped Danny keep a low profile and there hadn't been a town meeting to deal with the ghostly menace for weeks.

"Come on aren't you 'Smarter than the average bear'?" taunted Danny keeping just out of reach of the massive bear. "Try and get me!"

As he reached their destination, the delivery bay of an abandoned factory, Danny realised that they had moved too fast the techno-geek, who was never much of an athlete, too keep up. Oh well, Tucker knew where to go and would catch up soon.

"Okay Yogi, let's wrap this up before Ranger Smith gets here." But as Danny prepared to wrestle with the grizzly it slipped away and rejoined the tattoos on Lydia's stomach as she stepped out of the shadows. She was wrapped in her long red cloak and she pushed the hood back to reveal her face and spiky black hair.

"Lydia!" Danny gasped. He began to feel anxious, for if Lydia was here that could only mean she was with Freakshow. The former ringmaster maybe the least powerful of Danny's enemies, gaining all of power from artefacts, but he was almost certainly the most vicious being the only one who had managed to force Danny to commit crimes against his will both by direct mind control and by threatening the lives of his and his friends families. Danny never wanted to be mixed up in one of Freakshow's schemes again.

"Where is he Lydia?" Danny asked, clenching his fists. "What is Freakshow up to?"

The ghost's red lips curved into a smile and she pointed right behind Danny.

"Why I'm right here, boy."

Danny spun round, ready to fight, but for all the experience the young hero had gained Freakshow was too quick. His hand blurred and Danny felt a blow to his chest. Gasping his knees buckled but Freakshow kept the boy standing.

"And as to what I'm up to… well you're about to find out!"

Danny stared at his chest not understanding what he was seeing. He couldn't catch his breath. His breathing was becoming more and more horse and ragged as Freakshow kept ahold of the long knife that pierced Danny's heart.

Danny couldn't gasp anymore, lights flashed behind his eyelids and he heard Freakshow's mad giggling as he felt his life slipping away.

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Thanks for reading the story so far. Let me know if you liked it (or if you didn't) and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	3. Phone Calls and Cop Cars

Tucker rounded the corner into the carpark panting heavily

Tucker rounded the corner into the carpark panting heavily. Come on he was the brains of this outfit, the tech-guy, he shouldn't have to run nearly this much! No-one could beat his speed on a key board that's where his talents lay.

"Danny!" Tucker stopped his self pitying monologue cut short as he saw his friend fall to his knees in front of Freakshow and change back to his human appearance. No way could Freakshow beat Danny in a fair fight. What was happening?

Tucker forgot abut how out of breath he was and he forgot about the weapons in his backpack, he raced across the carpark determined to save Danny.

When he was still about ten yard away however he saw his friend hit Freakshow on the side of the head with something heavy knocking the attacker unconscious.

"Danny are you okay?" Tucker asked anxiously. He never noticed Lydia at the scene as she turned invisible and stayed close to the boys. The young dark haired boy got unsteadily to his feet and frowning tapped his teeth together.

"DANNY!" repeated Tucker. "Are you okay?"

"Ooho yes, I'm fine… absolutely fine," said his friend grinning. "That dastardly villain must have shorted out my powers with his fiendish dagger, but I'm recovering nicely! I'm going… um… ghost!" The blue rings appeared around his waist then disappeared. "Come on," he muttered his face scrunched up in concentration as he finally transformed into the white haired ghost.

"There you see!" he laughed. "Absolutely perfect!"

"Well… okay," said Tucker. "but what are we going to do with Freakshow and that nasty dagger."

"Ooho don't worry about that," answered his friend as he took a handkerchief from Freakshow's pocket and used it to wrap up the dagger. "I know just what to do."

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"_911. What's your emergency?"_

"_Oh operator! We are two young innocent bystanders who have just seen the terrifying escaped criminal Freakshow in back of the O'Neill's factory on 6__th__ Street! He is very dangerous! Please send the police and any other secret agencies who might be interested!"_

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Danny groaned and pulled himself up. Okay wasn't dead or bleeding from a stab wound but he felt really nauseous.

"Tucker? Hey Tucker!" Danny stared blearily around and couldn't see his best friend. Oh man, that could mean that he had been taken hostage by Freakshow. The 'Ringmaster of Terror' would probably use his friend to make Danny do his bidding, again."

"'Kay… First check that he's not around getting better reception on his PDA. Then make sure Sam and my family are okay. Third… figure out what Freakshow wants. Jeez looks like another fun weekend." Danny tried to change to alter ego and take off into the sky but the rings wouldn't appear and he was earthbound. Must have been that stupid dagger, well maybe his powers would come back when the nausea faded. In the meantime the teen superhero was walking.

"Hold it right there!" Danny had walked out of the factory gate into a waiting ring of police cars, their lights flashing and their occupants crouched behind the cars and their guns all pointed at Danny.

"Huh?" was all Danny could come up with as he was shocked out of his musing about Tucker and Freakshow.

"Face down on the ground."

"Hey, I'm sorry if I was trespassing but no harm was done and I was just leaving!"

"You're not going anywhere punk get face down on the ground."

Danny obeyed the instructions. This was crazy, they didn't call out five squad cars for trespassing and Danny Fenton (unlike his alter ego) wasn't wanted by the police.

From the ground he saw dark trousered legs walk up to him and felt his arms pulled behind his back and handcuffed. Then he felt he nausea well up again a as he saw white trousered legs step out from behind a car, the Guys in White were here. This meant that they had to know who he was, he was now set to be dragged off to some lab for the rest of his life or until he could figure out an escape plan.

He was hauled to his feet and pushed against a squad car while the cop patted him down. Reflected in the window he saw the GiWs talking into their wrists.

"Agent Johnson to base. Fugitive in custody in accordance with Takedown Plan Epsilon Four. You're going back to lockdown."

Danny gasped as he was yanked away from the car and pulled into the back of an unmarked white van. He had seen a face in the reflection of the glass.

The nose was long and pointed, there were deep black bags under the eyes, no hair on his head and he had a long earring dangling from his right ear.

It was his face.

He was Freakshow.


	4. Beaten Bullies and Worried Friends

Oh dear, it's been the best part of a year since I updated. Still maybe I've become a slightly better writer, stranger things have happened. Thanks as always to Confab for proofreading and criticising and to Danni4ever for her unending enthusiasm.

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That Monday Sam arrived at school frowning and looking distracted. She had spent all weekend trying to think of the perfect revenge against Paulina and now she had the bare bones of a plan. For it to work, though, she would have to learn everything she could about the popular princess's make-up routine.

Sam reached her locker and tried to open it carefully without _looking_ as if she was being careful. This was war and she couldn't let herself appear weak or nervous in front of the enemy. Sam tensed as she tried to see if her locker was booby-trapped.

"Hi Sam!" The voice, coming suddenly behind her, nearly made Sam jump out of her combat boots.

"Tucker! What are you trying to do to me?" Sam hissed at her friend.

"Hey! What's with you and Danny?" he exclaimed in a hurt voice. "First you stay in all weekend and won't answer the phone. Then he blows me off at the Nasty Burger and is too busy to check out the new PDA carry cases at the mall."

"Nothing's the matter with me Tucker!" Sam snapped. "And I'm sure Danny is fine too. Here he comes now."

The two teenagers watched the person who they believed to be their friend, Danny Fenton, head up the hall towards them past Dash, Paulina and other kids from the popular crowd.

"Hey, Fen-Toe-Nail, time for for my early morning nerd wailing!" As Dash spoke he grabbed the smaller boy's shoulder and shoved him against the locker door. The other kids watched with various degrees of amusement or boredom. Paulina took a compact out of her book bag and admired her perfect complexion.

As the jock yanked his prospective victim back, aiming to toss him in a locker, the dark haired boy slipped out of his grip and drove his elbow into Dash's stomach.

"Ugggghah!" Dash gasped as he doubled over.

Freakshow looked at the football star who was trying to catch his breath. A cruel smile settled on the face he had stolen as he silently dared anyone else to step forward. When nobody did he spun on his heel and walked away, leaving the A-Listers, Tucker and everyone except for Dash and Sam staring after him. Dash was still trying to remember how to breath but Sam was focused on the compact the Paulina had taken out to check her face and now slipped forgotten out of her hand.

The clatter snapped everyone out of their shock. Some helped Dash to his feet and everyone else started talking excitedly.

"What did Danny just do?" Tucker hissed at Sam.

"Huh? I didn't see anything," Sam replied, still looking at Paulina who was now heading into the ladies. "Tucker, I've got to go."

"And I've got to talk to Danny," Tucker muttered.

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Freakshow's weekend had been frustrating to say the least. His new body's ghost powers were proving much harder to control than he had expected. Not only was he turning invisible and intangible without intending to but when he tried flying or shooting ecto-bolts the powers would sometimes cut out on him leaving the ringmaster of terror human again. At one point on Saturday night he had been trying to fly across the city when he found himself moving at one hundred and twenty miles per hour straight downwards. It was only thanks to Lydia's quick interception that Freakshow's new life as a teenage ghost boy didn't come to an abrupt and messy end.

Therefore, until he had proper control over his powers, Freakshow was staying undercover in Danny Fenton's life. This was turning out to be far more nerve racking then he would have ever thought. It wasn't that his 'parents' thought that there was anything strange about their son, but everything in the house seemed designed to kill him. Even the vacuum-cleaner cleaner had an ecto-gun mounted on it.

On Sunday Jack and Maddie had insisted that he help in the lab. Maddie was tinkering with the Fenton-Bazooka, while Jack and Freakshow tried to fix the door to the Fenton Weapons Vault. When Freakshow first saw all the weapons on display he grinned at the thought of the uses that he could put them to. After the fourth time that Jack knocked against on the weapons causing it to spontaneously fire at him however, he decided to stick to his original plan; learn to control his ghost powers and then abandon Amity Park for a long and profitable life of crime.

He was wondering how the ghost boy had ever managed to survive in that household when he heard hurrying footsteps . "Danny, wait up!" Freakshow saw that it was the the boy from Friday night, what was his name? Ah yes.

"Tucker, a-ha, how was your week-end?"

"What! Your asking me after you completely blew me off on Saturday!" Tucker was really angry. "And what did you do to Dash? I'm not saying he didn't have it coming but I've never seen you throw a sucker punch like that before."

"Tucker, I'm sorry. My parents kept me in all week-end working in their weapons vault I was nearly blown up three times yesterday. I guess I'm a little on edge and Dash caught me when I wasn't expecting it." Freakshow tried to sound sincere in his apology. The last thing that he needed now was somebody suspecting the truth. Fortunately these events didn't seem too unusual and he watched Tucker relax.

"It's okay Danny, it's just that Sam is acting strange as well. She keeps staring at Paulina. Did you talk to her at all over the weekend?"

"No I..." Freakshow was suddenly interrupted by Star.

"Hello loser, what where you doing back there, trying to impress you girlfriend?" she asked flipping her blond hair.

"Who?" he answered. "Sam? No I've got much better ways of impressing her. Want to see?" He gave her his creepiest smile, the one he had spent twenty years perfecting in the Circus Gothica.

"Whatever, freak," Star muttered and walked away.

Tucker stared at his friend. Every time someone referred to Danny and Sam as boyfriend and girlfriend both of them would shout out a denial before blushing hotly. It was something of a running joke in Casper High. This was the first time that Danny had failed to rise to the bait and that smile did not belong on Danny Fenton's face.

"You're not Danny,' Tucker breathed, backing away.

"Hmmn?" the other boy was still wearing that creepy smile.

"You're not Danny!" Tucker repeated, certain that he was right.

"Well no, I'm not," Freakshow agreed. "But then the three of us are the only ones who know that aren't we?"

Tucker started to shout for help but before he could he was grabbed from behind by Lydia. As he tried to struggle she pulled him down through the floor and into schools basement.


End file.
